Is Phabricator appropriate for managing non-coding projects?

List overview All Threads
Download

newer

older

Re: [Wikimedia-l]...

David Cuenca Tudela

4 Jun 2015 4 Jun '15

7:01 p.m.

Show replies by date

Sam Klein

4 Jun 4 Jun

8:44 p.m.

New subject: Is Phabricator appropriate for managing non-coding projects?

Great question. I'd love a structured task manager for such things, also. On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 2:01 PM, David Cuenca Tudela <dacuetu(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Hi, I am looking for a space where I can set up projects like: - clean up a wiki category - set up book scanning tasks - track a survey stages (planning, translation, ad, analysis, etc) Is phabricator a good place for that? I guess that with appropriate project/subproject separation then the tasks wouldn't be mixed with coding tasks. How is it being done at the WMF? Cheers, Micru _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

-- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266

Neil P. Quinn

8:59 p.m.

New subject: Is Phabricator appropriate for managing non-coding projects?

David, I don't know of any specific rules about what's allowed in Phabricator. I *do* know that a number of teams at the WMF use Phabricator for non-coding tasks—for example, see T89355 [1], T97004 [2], T100918 [3], and T101207 [4]. I speak only for myself, but I really like the idea of community members using Phab to track Wikimedia-related projects like surveys and book scanning. I can't see any downsides, other than the frightening possibility of running out of numbers. (I do think category cleanup on a specific wiki would be better tracked on the wiki itself with maintenance templates, but I don't feel very strongly about it.) [1]: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T89355 [2]: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T97004 [3]: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T100918 [4]: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T101207 ————— Neil P. Quinn <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Neil_P._Quinn-WMF>, product analyst Wikimedia Foundation +1 (202) 656 3457 On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 1:44 PM, Sam Klein <sjklein(a)hcs.harvard.edu> wrote:

...

Great question. I'd love a structured task manager for such things, also. On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 2:01 PM, David Cuenca Tudela <dacuetu(a)gmail.com> wrote:

coding

tasks. How is it being done at the WMF? Cheers, Micru _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

-- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Quim Gil

11:24 p.m.

New subject: Is Phabricator appropriate for managing non-coding projects?

Hi, On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 9:01 PM, David Cuenca Tudela <dacuetu(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

I am looking for a space where I can set up projects like: - clean up a wiki category - set up book scanning tasks - track a survey stages (planning, translation, ad, analysis, etc) Is phabricator a good place for that?

Since the very first day of https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/, the blurb in the homepage reads "*Phabricator* is a collaboration platform open to all Wikimedia and MediaWiki contributors. We focus on bug reporting and software projects. Non-technical initiatives are welcome as well." That replies your question officially. :)

...

I guess that with appropriate project/subproject separation then the tasks wouldn't be mixed with coding tasks.

Just like nobody wants all coding tasks mixed either. :) Tasks get mixed or apart in the way you want with the use of projects/tags. Simple.

...

How is it being done at the WMF?

For instance, even if a hackathon is about code, *organizing* a hackathon is not. In fact Engineering Community doesn't write much code and we have 99% of our activity organized in Phabricator projects, tasks, and sprints. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/?statuses=open()&projects=P… Further reading: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator/Creating_and_renaming_projects https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator/Project_management and of course https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator/Help, which is ready for all kinds of users, technical or not. See you all there! If you have questions, just ask at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Phabricator/Help or #wikimedia-devtools IRC -- Quim Gil Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil

David Cuenca Tudela

5 Jun 5 Jun

7:34 a.m.

New subject: Is Phabricator appropriate for managing non-coding projects?

SJ, Neil and Quim, thanks wholeheartedly for all your answers, I think that removes most of the fears that I had. Although I must say it feels a bit unconventional since I haven´t figured out yet how to do scheduling, process flow, and other standard non-coding project management tasks in Phabricator. When compared with standard tools like MS Project, on the Project Planning Properties realm Phabricator seems to be lacking many features; http://project-management.zone/system/microsoft-project,phabricator I guess I will start trying and learning to see how far I can get with it. It doesn´t need to be complex in order to be effective. Cheers, Micru On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 1:24 AM, Quim Gil <qgil(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Hi, On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 9:01 PM, David Cuenca Tudela <dacuetu(a)gmail.com> wrote:

I guess that with appropriate project/subproject separation then the tasks wouldn't be mixed with

coding

tasks.

Just like nobody wants all coding tasks mixed either. :) Tasks get mixed or apart in the way you want with the use of projects/tags. Simple.

How is it being done at the WMF?

-- Etiamsi omnes, ego non

Quim Gil

9:31 a.m.

New subject: Is Phabricator appropriate for managing non-coding projects?

On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 9:34 AM, David Cuenca Tudela <dacuetu(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Although I must say it feels a bit unconventional since I haven´t figured out yet how to do scheduling, process flow, and other standard non-coding project management tasks in Phabricator.

"unconventional", "standard"... tsk tsk, you know better than this. ;) Phabricator aligns better with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban_(development) -- see also the recent Wikimedia Tech Talk about this topic: https://plus.google.com/events/cg2sb5m878c8ot3nhf2uk4mii34

...

When compared with standard tools like MS Project, on the Project Planning Properties realm Phabricator seems to be lacking many features; http://project-management.zone/system/microsoft-project,phabricator

Sure. After deprecating Bugzilla, RT, Scrumbugz, Mingle, and Trello, we have accumulated a ton of feedback on features that are really really missing, features that are kind of missing, and also many features that users thought that would miss, but by now they have forgotten about. Try it out, give yourself a week, and let us know what you miss exactly. If you really want to dig... https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/phabricator-upstream/ I guess I will start trying and learning to see how far I can get with it.

...

It doesn´t need to be complex in order to be effective.

I'll invite you to a great dinner if you miss MS Project after using Phabricator in a real Wikimedia activity for more than a month. :) -- Quim Gil Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil

David Cuenca Tudela

9:51 a.m.

New subject: Is Phabricator appropriate for managing non-coding projects?

On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 11:31 AM, Quim Gil <qgil(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

I'll invite you to a great dinner if you miss MS Project after using Phabricator in a real Wikimedia activity for more than a month. :)

That is real project management :D No, I don't think I'll miss it so much, perhaps the only thing I *really* miss is the ability to add subprojects, but I saw that is already on the Phabricator road map :) Cheers, Micru

3281

days inactive

3282

days old

wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

Manage subscription

6 comments

4 participants

tags (0)

participants (4)

David Cuenca Tudela
Neil P. Quinn
Quim Gil
Sam Klein